Listen to Your Gut

When Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, asked a group of French people how they knew when to stop eating, they replied “When I feel full”. Americans said things like “When my plate is clean” or “When I run out”. Certainly slowing down will help you tune into your stomach signals, but here are a few ways to manipulate the external clues as we work on listening to our internal signs.

Serve smaller portions in smaller containers

Leave empty bottles, bones, and so forth on the table so you can see how much you’ve eaten or drunk

Use glasses that are more vertical than horizontal

Leave healthy foods in view, unhealthy ones out of sight

Leave serving bowls in the kitchen rather than on the table to discourage second helpings